THE DAY JENSON GOT THE FEAR (AND OTHER STORIES)

FEAR AND SELF-LOATHING IN SÃO PAULO

Yup. It happens. It really does. I remember my second-to-last race in 2016. Brazil, it was, the penultimate race of the season – the race before Abu Dhabi, at which I was due to retire. It was wet, which should have been perfect conditions for me, and one of those races that I could wring the neck out of and maybe do a little better than expected. I certainly hoped to beat my team-mate at the time, who was Fernando Alonso.

Turn one, it hit me. I had a bit of wobble, figuratively and literally. The circuit was treacherous with rain and I was sliding all over the place. This was the race where Max Verstappen really showed his skills in the wet. Well, as he was doing that up front, muggins here, the former wet-race specialist, was sliding all over the place at the back, feeling very much not in control of his car, desperately trying and failing to find grip, and feeling…

Fearful.